The Ask

Pick a declining retail brand and give it a refresh.

The Problem

Chuck E. Cheese's has always owned the intersection of food + fun and has positioned itself as the ultimate birthday experience. But birthdays only come once a year, causing parents to see Chuck E. Cheese's as an occasional option.

In fact, Chuck E. Cheese's estimates that out of the 11 times a year the average kid wants to go, they are only taken by their parents 3 times.

The Objective

Reposition Chuck E. Cheese's from an occasional birthday option to an everyday entertainment option. Increasing frequency of visits from 3 to 4.

The Opportunity

Through talking to parents and doing some secondary research we found that the reason parents like the idea of a Chuck E. Cheese's is that the kids come home exhausted and the mess doesn't come home with them. We found that there was a real opportunity to blow out physical play.

The Target

The family member that does their best not to enforce the rules, whether it is dad or a fun aunt they would rather be buying presents and having fun than laying down the law.

The Strategy

Unify Chuck E. Cheese's experience through physical play.

The Concept

Create a world in which kids participate in a narrative through imaginative and physical play.

This will include an imaginative narrative that will unify the entire Chuck E. Cheese experience, a new flagship store layout, community involvement and dropping the apostrophe "S" off the name.

Logo Refresh

The Narrative

The entire Chuck E. Cheese experience will now be wrapped in a storybook narrative involving the beacon of the Chuck E. Cheese brand: Chuck. Each season Chuck will have a new adventure will be reflected in a book release as well as the interactive flagship store.

Flagship Stores

The flagship store would be a multi level narrative experience- allowing the kids to ascend to each higher level through fun interactive physical games. Parents would be able to travel alongside their kids through the narrative of the store, or watch from a parent friendly space on the outside.

Levels

Each floor would reflect chapters of the narrative and encourage movement through physical play. The space itself would be digitally interactive and therefor able to update and change based on the changing narrative.

Individual Obstacles

The obstacles seen above on each floor of the flagship Chuck E. Cheese would remain the same as the narrative changes, but how and where the child interacts with them would change. Each individual game would be movable and designed to reflect the digital components of the current narrative, This would work through making a portion of each game digital based, with involvement of a screen.

Digital Components

To make the space be able to adapt to the changing narrative we wanted to make sure the space as a whole could transform, not just the games the kids are playing on. Having interactive surface screens around the space would allow there to be tactile responses with a screen not only on the wall but on the floor as well.

Wristbands

Kids will wear Chuck E. Cheese wristbands which will be the new way to track the obstacles each kid travels through. Additionally the wristbands give kids a way to earn points and compete not only with other kids but with themselves each time they play in a new narrative.

Conclusion

Kids attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, by creating an interactive changing space the entire Chuck E. Cheese experience is not only unified through physical game play but able to adapt and change. The book introducing the narrative of the store can also function as a messaging component by distributing copies and coloring book versions to local schools.